Page 30 of Blood Sacrifice

“It isn’t that strange,” I said. “Magic isn’t what it used to be, and the creatures walking this world contain an evil none of us could have predicted four hundred years ago.”

Salvator sat back and watched me. “This has nothing to do with magic or creatures, I’m alpha to that pack and no one has realised I’m missing. I normally check in every single day.” He shook his head. “This is crazy.”

“Maybe not,” I replied. “We’ve been tracking creatures that have been breaking through the veils from other realms. Some of them have abilities never seen before.”

His brow furrowed and he continued to stare at me.

“I’ll get an amulet created for you and then we can talk,” I said, moving out of the room. At this moment, I had no idea who could see or hear us, and I preferred my conversations to be private.

Everywhere I went in the world, I carried an emergency magic case that was disguised as a makeup kit. Inside the jars and boxes were the basics of spell casting. An amulet was an object worn for protection or to host a spell which would affect the person wearing it. In my kit, I always carried the basic foundation to create a new amulet in case something happened to the one I was wearing. I infused each piece of it with different elements, bringing them together and plaiting them to form a stronger structure that would be unbreakable to anyone trying to reach the wearer.

I added extra wooden beads with sacred symbols etched on them to increase the potency of the spell. Then I infused it with an enchantment to ensure it stayed on Salvator’s body even when he shifted form.

“I normally only tend to wear my quartz,” Salvator said from behind me, startling me back into the room since I was in an almost trace-like state.

I turned around to find him holding the quartz pendant I had given him so long ago. “Sometimes we need to upgrade our security.”

“And sometimes we got it right the first time,” he replied, his focus set on me.

Every time he was close to me, my body responded and right now was no different. I wanted to crawl to him on my hands and knees, and beg him to hold me. He exuded an energy that shouted to everyone not to fuck with him or they would end up dead, and in anyone else that would terrify me, but with Salvator all I felt was safe.

I removed a long, thin pin from my kit and held it up. “I need a drop of your blood,” I said. “It will make the amulet unique to you and strengthen the power of the enchantment.”

He eyed me warily. “Why does everything involve a sample of your blood?” he queried, rolling his eyes.

“Do you often get asked for your blood?” I queried, my inner witch taking interest since blood was your life source and could be used to charm or curse you.

“More than I would like,” Salvator replied, holding his hand out.

I pricked his finger, turning his hand over to allow a drop of blood to land on the amulet. I muttered the incantation to connect Salvator to the protection stone, sensing the energy change as both components combined to form a new structure. Magic was a living entity, and the most important component was the spell crafter, followed by the subject of that spell.

“Here.” I held it out to Salvator. “Try it on and see how it feels.”

His fingertips touched my hand as he took the amulet, sliding it around his neck and fastening it on the leather strap I had put it on since that suited him better than a chain. He shook his head and rolled his powerful shoulders back.

“It feels weird,” he commented. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

I could guess, but I needed more time to study what had been happening.

“Okay. That’s both of us cut off from anyone watching us,” I said, standing and stretching my arms. “I’ll pack this up, and then I’m good to go.”

Salvator nodded once, giving me an assessing stare before he walked out of the room. I carefully packed my supplies away since they were already starting to dwindle on this journey. Before I left the room, I took time to re-energise my own amuletand cleanse my aura since we seemed to be surrounded by negative energy.

I found Salvator pacing in the kitchen, his hair standing up as if he had run his fingers through it a thousand times.

“Problem?” I asked.

He stopped, turning toward me. “I have no idea. A lot of chatter started a few minutes ago on our servers about the same time you gave me that amulet,” he replied. “There have been some calls to my phone as well.”

“This is the last place they could track you to. We need to go,” I said. “We can talk in the car.”

He nodded absently, collecting our bags and closing down his computer. We had climbed into a different car in the parking lot when I noticed a tall man arriving, his energy dark and oppressive. I touched Salvator’s arm, nodding in the direction of the staircase we had walked down only a few minutes ago. He went to open his car door, but I shook my head.

“We should go.” I had a bad feeling, and tended to listen to my vibes.

Salvator’s gaze met mine, and I swear he had the ability to look inside my head. “Okay, but we need to have a long discussion about all this.”

We drove out slowly, and I uttered a low incantation to ensure we weren’t noticed. Our car would confuse anyone viewing it instead of them noting the make, model, and when they saw it.

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